The present invention relates to a plate conveyor having identical plates that are supported by a sprocket chain and that in the conveying direction of the plate conveyor have their bases, as well as vertically extending side edges thereof, reciprocally overlap, whereby the sprocket chain is composed of two chain strands that are disposed parallel to one another and are each formed by a sequence of inner link members and outer link members, wherein facing ones of the inner link members and outer link members are connected by respective common link pins that extend through associated openings of the link members, and wherein the plates of the plate conveyor are secured to the successive inner link members and outer link members of at least one of the two chain strands.
A plate conveyor having the aforementioned features is described, for example, in DE 34 38 231 C2. A problem with such plate conveyors arises during assembly since the plate conveyors must be transported in pre-assembled portions to the place of use and must there be connected to one another to form the endless conveying strand that is required during operation.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to embody a plate conveyor having the aforementioned features in such a way that assembly as well as possibly disassembly can be carried out in a simple manner.